Man ‘has history of defrauding’

A 42-year-old man was given a three-month sentence last Wednesday at Craigavon Magistrates Court after failing to bring almost £800 in compensation with him.

William Robert Brown, Westacres, Craigavon, had been warned at his previous court hearing that he could go to jail if he did not produce the money.

The defendant previously pleaded guilty to the fraudulent use of a credit card to pay for goods on September 22 last year.

A prosecutor said that Brown fraudulently used a credit card to obtain goods valued at £933.15 at Auctions NI in Annesborough.

When police spoke to Brown he said he had been asked to buy the goods by a third party who had provided him with cards. Some of the goods, valued at £145, had been recovered.

His barrister asked for further time but Judge Kelly pointed out that the defendant could not gather the money in a year so there was no chance in a couple of weeks.

His lawyer said that a pre-sentence report was very positive and his client had a limited record.

But District Judge Mrs Bernie Kelly pointed out that Brown “had a history of defrauding people” and added that when someone divested other people of their hard-earned money paying it back was the most obvious sign of remorse.